Civil Rights Defenders and the AIRE Centre (Advice on Individual Rights in Europe) organised the Sixth Regional Rule of Law Forum for South East Europe. The Forum gathered over 170 participants from Albania, BiH, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and Hungary, including presidents and judges of supreme and constitutional courts, members of judicial councils, directors of judicial academies, representatives of NGOs and prominent legal experts in the field, as well as nine current and former judges of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. As a representative of NGO Praxis, Jasmina Miković, Deputy Executive Director took part in the Forum.

The aim of the Forum was to promote the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights at the domestic level, to encourage regional cooperation in the continued development of the rule of law and the protection of human rights, and to assist the process of EU integration across the region.

The topic of the 2019 Forum was child rights, focusing on the protection of children as an integral and essential part of the rule of law and marking 60th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child. Children are amongst the most vulnerable members of our societies and the protection of their rights is of fundamental importance to the rule of law. The topics forming the basis of the Forum discussions included domestic violence (with children as victims and witnesses), human trafficking, asylum, migration, custody and care of children, and access to justice for children.

For more information, see the announcement here.